Gas Piston vs Direct Impingement for the AR-15: Pros & Cons?

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  • clandestine

    AR-15 Savant
    Oct 13, 2008
    37,031
    Elkton, MD
    Oh geese...here he comes...

    Naw, Im spent. I cant do this anymore with people, my blood pressure is high and I cant keep erect 24/7 anymore.

    I have concluded people dont want to know any truth to what Gunsmiths sees. People make up their minds way before they even post threads asking if they should get one. Its pointless to try.
     

    BradMacc82

    Ultimate Member
    Industry Partner
    Aug 17, 2011
    26,177
    To be fair it's also pointless to hit on model's 99.9% of the time, but it doesn't mean you hang up the towel...

    But there is some truth to that, I think some of these guys just want that encouragement to spend more money, I however had poor impulse control, therefore not needing encouragement.
     

    Jack Gordon

    Banned
    BANNED!!!
    Aug 27, 2011
    689
    Places Unknown
    Naw, Im spent. I cant do this anymore with people, my blood pressure is high and I cant keep erect 24/7 anymore.

    I have concluded people dont want to know any truth to what Gunsmiths sees. People make up their minds way before they even post threads asking if they should get one. Its pointless to try.

    Yeah, monocle wearing m'fers..
     

    kfrede86

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 22, 2010
    1,559
    St. Marys
    :
    Yeah, monocle wearing m'fers..
    :lol2:
    ah-good-sir-i-do-believe-i-have-shat-in-my-pantaloons.jpg
     

    smokey

    2A TEACHER
    Jan 31, 2008
    31,412
    gas piston is newer technology? Putting a gas piston in a DI platform is a bit like putting a steam engine in a bugatti. It's still dirty, just in different places. It's still hot, only up by your hands instead of back in the reciever/bcg. It will be heavier(like the steam engine in the bugatti), it will recoil harsher(but it's still a 5.56...if u complain about recoil you should grow a pair or get a battlecomp), and it will cause wear to your existing ar platform. The wear materializes in carrier tilt wear on the bottom of the buffer tube(see picture below). It also materializes in gouging in the upper where the cam rides up into it. LWRC seems to have largely redesigned and solved most of the problems with retrofitting ar's to be piston driven and are solid....others didn't.

    Keep in mind, the DI system is pretty proven and reliable. Myths about DI's being jam-o-matic's are from old vietnam stuff that was quickly fixed, or from improperly built guns. If you keep the bcg wet(many here advocate using synthetic motor oil for the job), they'll keep running pretty much forever. They're inherently accurate, since all of the forces are vectored in opposition to each other in a straight line and the barrel can be floated from any moving parts. There's also a tremendous amount of aftermarket stuff available for DI ar's. If you get a piston version, there's many parts that just plain won't work because of clearance issues.


    If you want a piston gun get a acr, scar, or lwrc. They'll all be more expensive than a well-built spikes tactical, bcm, or even a colt ar in DI.
    carrier tilt.jpg
     

    CWood

    Active Member
    May 2, 2011
    317
    S.MD
    I never had a problem with DI carbines and though I have no idea how many rounds were put through them but it would be in the thousands the guns were cleaned and "oiled" after a patrol or incident and the conditions there were either mud or dust. Repairs were buffers or buffer springs(changed on purpose), sometimes a bolt and once a stock. All of these were put under harsh use. Same goes for the M60s.
     

    ChannelCat

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Thanks for the education guys! I had never heard of this “newer” method (gas piston) for an AR, and I was curious. I got my AR’s 10 years ago when KKT was regurgitating all this Brady BS (I didn’t think Ehrlich has a prayer), and at the time, I never ran across any information about choices between DI versus gas piston A friend of mine was raving about the gas piston method, and it ticked my curiosity. I wasn’t looking to buy a new rifle or modify any of my present ones.

    http://www.defensereview.com/the-bi...pingement-gas-system-makes-the-m4-unreliable/ I'll post this again since the subject came up Bushy sells a conversion kit Lord Chad would tell you the only Piston AR to have is LWRC wow 784 posts and you never seen this debate
    For some reason, I never ran across it. Must be spending too much time fishing and on fishing web sites. I’m a jack of all trades, a master of none, but always willing to learn new things.

    Naw, Im spent. I cant do this anymore with people, my blood pressure is high and I cant keep erect 24/7 anymore.

    I have concluded people don’t want to know any truth to what Gunsmiths sees. People make up their minds way before they even post threads asking if they should get one. Its pointless to try.
    I respect the opinions of the folks here, was curious, and I was fishing for information only. My curiosity is now satisfied. Thanks again for the education and for the entertaining thread.
     

    Markp

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 22, 2008
    9,392
    But they make piston AR's on sons of guns... and they know everything about guns... Chad must be wrong. :lol2:
     

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